... does it go
clickity, clickity, clickity, clickity clank. clickity, clikcity, clickity, clickity clank?

More of a clunk...clicktythunk....thunk click....scraaape ting click scraape ting! Kinda like the sound of poorly aligned brake rotor on a mountain bike! Already opened the laptop up and cleaned out the fans to check if it was a piece of debris in there hitting the fan blades...and unfortunately not the case!

ah. mine's like it's trying to do a drum beat

It can be tough trying to pick out a new one, but you seem like a reasonably competent computer-type. Make sure to have Zoe give it a once-over before you buy it!

I have a few options! Easy/cheap is a new 500gb or 1tb HDD for 45-70 bucks! Next option is a 500gb HDD plus a mid-capacity (probably 256gb) mSATA SSD for...somewhere under 200, or a 500 gig ssd for a bit over 200! I do know for sure that I'll do a fresh install of my OS...because get rid of all the crapware from Dell/alienware that I can't ditch! Or maybe run ubuntu!

I'd strongly recommend the second or first option; the really big SSDs are still not quiiiiiite up there with the mid-sized ones. And keep an eye on the brand and model, they're not all created equally and a few are outright terrible!

Xipher has been pointing me towards either Crucial 100 and 500 series drives, or Samsung 840 series drives! And made disappointed faces when inquiring about anything else except maybe Intel drivew, but those are a bit too pricey and offer lower storage numbers.

Xipher is pointing you in the right directions, then! Although I'm not seeing inspiring things about the Crucial MX100 in particular.

Get the SSD. Even if it is smaller.. you'll be thanking yourself later

It really does make more and more sense the longer I think about it! Especially with how much the darn thing is carried around every day! And with my laptop having space for an mSATA drive as well, I can easily expand storage should I need it!

found it! Smart wolf!